ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 6

The story of Jacob's life and his many encounters with angels in not just a story about what happened to Jacob. These accounts, and the truths they teach, have great relevance for our lives today, particularly when it comes to the subject of how to enjoy the ministry of angels in our lives. It's great that angels were active in Jacob's life, but those who follow Christ can have that same blessing in their lives.

The story of Jacob's life set the stage for our lesson today. Jacob was a man who lived in fear and found it hard to trust God. The guy was full of deceit. His name even meant trickster. After deceiving his father, Isaac, and stealing the birthright of his twin brother, Esau, Jacob fled far away in fear of his life--after hearing his brother wanted to kill him.

Running in fear for his life--filled with anxiety and stress--one night while he slept on the cold ground with a stone for a pillow, he had a dream. In his dream he saw a ladder that was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven while the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (Genesis 28:10-17)

There are four things that God promised Jacob in conjunction with his ladder--four blessings that are also available to us when we commit ourselves to follow God: God's PROMISES; God's PRESENCE; God's PROTECTION; and God's PROVISION.

When you are in God's will, you need not be anxious, defensive, or possessive. There is no reason to fear anything! When you are in God's will, He will keep you for whatever purpose He has for you. He will give you all you need to fulfill His purpose--health, finances, relationships, abilities, etc.

Even when God sent His holy angels to remind him and guide him, Jacob spent most of his life living in fear. His difficult lessons and hard times were used by God to develop his character. Finally, after an encounter with an angel, Jacob was broken and he said, "...for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Genesis 32:30) At that time, Jacob's name was changed to Israel.

It took Jacob nearly his entire life to come to the point of trusting God completely. Although he endured many personal hardships with his family, his uncle, his wives, his children, and his work, God never gave up on Jacob.

The story of Jacob's life has many life lessons for us (slides 15-19). The bottom line: If we want to activate the blessings of angels in our lives, we must do two things: Have faith in God's Word and take it seriously; have faith in God's Son--entrust yourself completely to Him. Jacob's ladder is the bridge between the visible and the invisible worlds. It becomes actively traveled by angels, for our benefit, when we believe and have faith.

ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 5

Today we looked at three of the ministries of angels and angels as agents in judgement.

1. Observation - Angels are watching over us, viewing our actions and reactions, taking in the nuances of our everyday lives--witnessing with great delight every Godward move we make. Amazed and captivated by our thankful hearts toward God for His grace and mercy [something the angels have never needed].

"...we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men." (1 Corinthians 4:9)

2. Guidance - Angels provide supernatural direction on earth (Acts 5:12-42; 12:6-11; Acts 8:26-39). They also usher the saints from this temporal time-bound life to Jesus' side in eternity (Luke 16:22-25). For all who are in Christ, death need not be a final or fear-filled tragedy. Instead, it is a triumph--the culmination of our faith.

3. Protection - Throughout scripture we see the holy angels sent to provide protection for the saints (Daniel 6:22; 2 Kings 6:14-17; Acts 27:23-25)

God also uses angels to carry out His will against sinners. Angels are "avengers" who use their great power to fulfill God's will in judgement (Hebrews 1:7; Genesis 19:1,3; Judges 5:23; II Samuel 24:15-17; Acts 12:23; Psalm 35:5-6; Exodus 12:18-30; Hebrews 11:28; 1 Corinthians 10:10)

Last week, after the passing of my father, my thoughts often focused on death and what scripture tells us about life after death. Where does our soul go after our bodies die? When will our souls be joined with our heavenly bodies? I thought about the angels and the part they play as God's emissaries, His messengers, His representatives here on earth. The more I contemplated the invisible world, the more I realized how incapable I was of understanding the amazing mysteries of God.

My thoughts are bound by my understanding and experience of my finite world which consists of only four dimensions - length, breadth, height, and time. However, God is obviously not bound by these dimensions. He can be anywhere at any time. He is omnipresent (Proverbs 15:3; Matthew 18:20; etc.). Therefore, there must be higher dimensions. We read in scripture that angels often appeared in our three-dimensional world as men, then disappeared. Where did they go? How is that possible? Jesus also appeared after His resurrection and then suddenly disappeared. Enoch was walking with God and then disappeared because God took him. Poof! Gone! (Genesis 5:24). Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). After baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch, Philip was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord. These events are not possible in a world defined by only four dimensions. How does your current view of the invisible world limit your focus on eternity?

How many dimensions are there? Do those believers who have died and are now in heaven experience this multi-dimensional realm? Can they see us? I believe that when we look at scripture and study how God, Jesus, the angels, and other saints were not bound, as we are, by the four dimensions that define our universe, we will become more aware of the invisible world that exist around us. Hopefully, this will help us maintain more of an eternal focus.

Next week I will look further at the mysteries of the invisible world where angels exist.

ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 4

Angels are the ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are to inherit salvation--the saints. (Hebrews 1:14)

The MISSION and MINISTRY of the holy angels is summed up: to worship God and to accomplish His will. They are His emissaries, His messengers, His representatives here on earth. To see the effects of their involvement is to see something of God Himself. They are fearsome, as is God. They are strong, as is God. They are pure, as is God. They are caring, as is God.

The MISSION of angels includes: attending, encouraging, submitting, advocating, speaking, guarding, protecting, ministering, and accompanying. Angels are preachers, proclaimers, avengers, warners, recruiters, rescuers, explorers, executors, comforters, communicators, attenders, lion tamers, messengers, and more. 

In today's lesson we began by looking at the MISSION of angels as WORSHIPERS and WARRIORS. Next, we will look at three of the many ministries of angels--OBSERVATION, GUIDANCE, and PROTECTION. Then we will look at angels and their role as agents of JUDGEMENT -- mostly against sinners. We will see how angels use their great power to fulfill God's will in judgement.

ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 3

Satan is at war for your soul! Therefore, you MUST know your enemy! "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)

The common belief that Satan is a vicious-looking monster with horns, a pointed tail, wearing red tights, and carrying a pitchfork is exactly what he wants you to believe. Why? Because it is a lie and Satan is the father of lies. The Bible tells us that Satan was created as "the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." (Ezekiel 28:12)  He may be disgusting in motive and action, but he appears desirable in manner and sight. He tempts you with desirable pleasures that might seem good in the moment but carry a heavy burden of death and destruction in the end.

Satan has great power. He is cunning and clever, having set himself against God and His people. He will do everything in his power to hold people captive in sin and to drag them down to the prison of eternal separation from God.

For those who are in Christ there is nothing to fear. Under God's authority we are no longer held captive by Satan to do his will. Satan and his hoard of demons are limited to only what God allows (see Job 1:1-12). However, for those who are NOT in Christ they are held in the snare of the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 22-26). As Hebrews 2:14-16 says, they are "...subject to lifelong slavery."

The invisible war is taking place all around us--good against evil, angels against demons (Ephesians 6:12). We are the object of this war! You are the prize! "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) 

SUBMIT and RESIST! God and His angels are fighting for you! (Hebrews 2:14-16)

ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 2

Angels are mentioned in the Bible 273 times--108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. If you removed all references of angels from the Bible you would be left with gaping holes in narratives, inexplicable events, events that had no possible way of occurring. You would have to totally reject the New Testament.

Among the angels there is an order. Today we focused on the angels who are the closest to God--the seraphs (plural: seraphim) and cherubs (plural: cherubim). These two types of winged angels are considered the heavenly servants of God. They are constantly giving praise to God and are seen around the throne of God. The cherubim are sometimes known as the "throne angels". (Psalms 99:1; 80:1)

The seraphim are described by Isaiah in a vision (Isaiah 6:1-7). The cherubim were assigned by God to guard the eastern entrance to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life after Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God's instructions to Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant (the dwelling place of God) included two cherubs of gold (Exodus 25:10-22). God instructed that the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle (the Holy of Holies) have two 15 foot cherubs made, with wings spread the length of the room. The vale to the inner sanctuary was embroidered with cherubim (1 Kings 6:23-28). Interestingly, Lucifer (Satan)--before he rebelled against God--was an "anointed guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:12-15).

As we continue our study of angels, it will make us more and more aware of the invisible world that exist around us. Hopefully this study will help us turn our focus more toward our eternal home in Heaven while loosening our grip on the temporal things of this world.

ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 1

The Bible says that there are amazing beings occupying the universe, filling the void around us. Their number is uncounted, and they live in the heavenly sphere. And since the creation of man they have mingled in human affairs. These beings are the angels, powers, principalities, host, ministering spirits of God.

There are also the "fallen ones"--Lucifer and his demons. Lucifer's goal is to enslave the world of unbelievers--and even believers, if possible. Satan seeks to dominate people either by oppression or possession. He works through his demon hordes made up of the one-third of angels who followed him in his attempt to take over the throne of God in Heaven (Revelations 12:4).

There is a war taking place in the unseen world that surrounds us. (Ephesians 6:12) You must learn to "see" the unseen. You ask: "How can I look at the things that are unseen?" Answer: "If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2)

Hebrews defines faith as "...the conviction of things not seen." (11:1) Speaking to Christians, Paul wrote, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

You may "know" of the angels and their existence, but to "see" them, you must renew your mind and set your focus on eternity. You must not become distracted by the temporal world, but instead plugin to the invisible world that is so very active all around you.

Our study on angels and demons will help you be aware of the critical role that these supernatural, spirit beings play in God's plan, both in history and eternity. It will give you a new view of God's creative power and tremendous sovereign control over the world and the universe. You will learn how God dispatches His holy angels not only to serve Him, but you!

LOCAL CHURCH - Membership - Lesson 3/3

Today we completed our three-part study "Why should I 'JOIN' a local church?" looking first at the history of the First Baptist Church, Dothan, and what membership in the local church might have looked like in 1887.

As far back as 1830 friendly Indians met and traded with each other at a thick poplar grove about half way between their home territories. This meeting ground became what is now Dothan. A large spring in the grove made it an ideal site for those in the area with cattle to trade. By 1850 nine families had settled there. The name Poplar Head was chosen but was abandoned on learning that another town already bore that name. The Methodists were the predominant religious group at first, and they are credited with being responsible for the biblical name, "Dothan," being chosen from Genesis 37:17. Later the Dothan Eagle popularized the phrase from this verse, "For I heard them say, let us go to Dothan."

In the early months of 1887 a small group of Dothan men and women of the Baptist faith began meeting for worship in homes, and at other times in the Methodist Church, which had been formed by 1879. In November of 1887, under the leadership of Reverend J.C. Skipper, the group organized into a church with Skipper as its pastor. Brother Skipper was 65 years of age when he became pastor. He was a farmer with a large family and proved to be a dedicated and energetic man of God. The nine charter members met for worship in a one-room frame building formerly used as a school.

Just imagine what the commitment must have been like for this young fellowship of believers. At that time (1887), Dothan (Poplar Head) was a very small settlement. Two years earlier, there were only 25 families living in Dothan. The nine charter members would have represented almost half of the families in Dothan.

Over the past 129 years, the First Baptist Church, Dothan, has grown from a small group of 9 to nearly 5,000 members at its height, and established five other churches in Dothan. All this started because 9 people felt it was important to "join" together as one body of believers.

The Bible teaches that people are in different stages of commitment and we only grow by making commitments. FBC Dothan is an example of what can happen when believers are committed to membership, maturity, ministry, and mission.

Next week we will begin the series, Angels and Demons.